Manipulator for starter plugs



Feb.5,1952 E, M, CAFERRO 2,584,545

MANIPULATOR FOR STARTER-PLUGS Filed June 50, 1949 Zmnentor JZ /g7-MGttomeg Patented Feb. 5, 19:52

MANIPULATOR roa STARTER PLUGS Edward M. Caferro, Spokane, Wash assignorto Columbia Electric and Manufacturing Company, Spokane, Wash.

Application June so, 1949, Serial N5. 102,259

1 Claim. 1

The present invention relates to the general class of portable handlingappliances, and more specifically to an improved manipulator forstarter-plugs employed in the equipment of fluorescent lighting fixturesof the ceiling or overhead type. The primary purpose of the invention isthe provision of a light-weight and easily manipulated hand toolespecially designed for use in afiixing, removing, and replacing thestarter plugs of the fixtures; and by means of a resiliently opened andpositively closed grasper or holder, the starter plug may quickly andrigidly be grasped, then manipulated for attachment, or for detachment,and finally the holder or grasper may be released from the starter plug.

The novel device of my invention includes a minimum number of parts thatmay with facility be manufactured at low cost of production and theparts may be assembled with convenience to insure a durable andefficient hand tool that may be manipulated with ease and a minimumexpenditure of time and labor; The invention consists in certain novelfeatures of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts aswill hereinafter be described and more particularly set forth in theappended claim.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated a complete example of aphysical embodiment of my invention in which the parts are combined andarranged in accord with one mode I have devised for the practicalapplication of the principles of my invention. It will however beunderstood that changes and alterations are contemplated and may be madein these exemplifying drawings and mechanical structures, within thescope of my claims, without departing from the principles of theinvention.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the manipulator, partly broken awayfor convenience of illustration, in position for use in attaching astarter plug to, or for detaching it from the lighting fixture.

Figure 2 is an enlarged top plan view of the manipulator; and Figure 3is a broken longitudinal sectional view of the appliance.

In order that the general arrangement and utility of the manipulator mayreadily be understood, in Fig. 1 a portion of a fixture F forfluochannel shape in cross section, and pivoted at 3.

The lever is fashioned with a fiat round arm 4, and this angular arm isflanged to fit around and close against the open end of the tubular poleor bar.

Near the end of the lever arm a hole 5 is provided to accommodate thelower threaded end of an operating rod 6, that is confined within thetubular pole with its projecting end equipped with an exterior fasteningnut 1 bearing against the bottom face of the lever arm. v

The upper end 8 of the operating rod is threaded in the central bore ofa solid cylindrical slide block or head of a split resilient grasper orholder for the starter plug, which grasper includes a tubular stem I0that is slitted or slotted longitudinally, as at I l, and the threesegments of the resilient stem terminate in three jaws l 2, l3, and 14,each having an exterior cam face H5.

The integral grasper including the slide head, tubular stem, and thethree radially arranged jaws, are reciprocable in the upper open end ofthe tubular pole or bar, and the open end of the pole is provided withan annular beveled edge I 6 for coaotion with the cam faces of the jaws.The upper ends of the jaws are depressed to form an annular socket as H,and the inner walls of the jaws forming the sockets are fashioned withtwo annular rows of lugs or raised gripping members or pads l8 forfrictional engagement with the exterior surface of the starter-plug.

By means of the exterior threaded end of the operating rod, and the nut1 which fastens the rod to the arm of the operating lever, and thethreaded end 8 which fastens the operating rod to the slide head, thelever-action may be controlled and the reciprocable movement of thegrasper within the tubular pole may be correctly adjusted formanipulating the starter-plug.

For aflixing the jaws to the starter-plug, the lever 2 is first swungoutwardly from the tubular pole to elevate the grasper, and due to theresiliency of the split stem, the jaws are spread outwardly as the jawsemerge from the upper end of the tubular pole. Then the lever is pressedinwardly toward the tubular pole, and as the operating rod pulls ordraws the grasper within the upper end of the tubular pole, the jaws arecontracted and made to grasp the starter-plug.

If the grasped starter-plug is to be detached from its fixture, theholding device is bodily turned or twisted by hand to release the plug;then by releasing the jaws with an outward movement or swing of theoperating lever, the plug may be removed from its socket. If thedetached plug is to be replaced, a fresh plug is inserted in the openjaws, the lever is pressed inwardly to clamp the jaws on the plug, thenew plug or replacement is attached to the fixture, and then the leveris swung outwardly to release the jaws from the fixed plug.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent is:

In a starter-plug manipulator, the combination with a tubular polehaving an upper bevelend forming a cam-seat, an operating lever grasperterminating in radially arranged resil- 4 iently opened clamp jaws, saidjaws having exterior cam faces for coactlon with the cam seat in closingthe jaws, and an operating rod within the tubular pole connecting theslide head with said lever arm.

EDWARD M. CAFERRO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 842,420 Petty Jan. 29, 1907 152,053,980 Turner Sept. 8, 1936 2,382,170 Phillips Aug. 14, 1945

